Dobrzyń nad Wisłą (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Dobrin an der Weichsel) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. It lies on the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

River in the vicinity of

Włocławek Włocławek (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Leslau) is a city located in central Poland along the Vistula (Wisła) River and is bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park. As of December 2021, the population of the city is 106,928. Loc ...

. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 2,025.

History

Foundations

The settlement of Dobrzyń dates back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. A stronghold existed at the site since 9th century, and later also a castle was erected. It became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century. The oldest known mention of Dobrzyń (as Dobrin) comes from 1065. In the 11th century there was a

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

stronghold here. From 1228, Konrad I of Masovia allowed the military knights called the Dobrzyń brothers. The

crusading The First Crusade inspired the crusading movement, which became an important part of late medieval western culture. The movement influenced the Church, politics, the economy, society and created a distinct ideology that described, regulated, a ...

Order of Dobrzyń was granted Dobrzyń as a base in 1228, although the knights were later incorporated into the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

.Marian Biskup , Gerard Labuda , History of the Teutonic Order in Prussia , Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Morskie, 1986, p. 91, , OCLC 831220291 .

High Middle Ages

The 13th and 14th century was tumultuous time for the town. Despite the town being accorded

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

by the beginning of the 13th century, and being the capital of a principality until the beginning of the 14th century, it bore the brunt of the conflicts between the state of Poland and the Teutonic Knights to the north. A castle was constructed by the Order of Dobrzyń. In 1235, the castle returned to the Mazovian dukes. In 1329, it was taken by the Teutonic Knights, who returned it to Poland after signing the Treaty of Kalisz in 1343. However, the Castle was destroyed in 1409. It was also sacked by

Daniel of Galicia Daniel of Galicia ( uk, Данило Романович (Галицький), Danylo Romanovych (Halytskyi); Old Ruthenian: Данило Романовичъ, ''Danylo Romanovyčъ''; pl, Daniel I Romanowicz Halicki; 1201 – 1264) was a King ...

, who was King of Galicia in 1240. A city was founded here before 1230 probably based on the

Lübeck law The Lübeck law (german: Lübisches (Stadt)Recht) was the family of codified municipal law developed at Lübeck, which became a free imperial city in 1226 and is located in present day Schleswig-Holstein. It was the second most prevalent form of ...

. In 1230 document records that Wojciech was village leader from an unspecified town, identified in the literature with Dobrzyń. In 1239, the village administrator of Dobrzyń called Konrad is recorded. A village governor of Dobrzyń called Gocwin, is recorded with the erroneous date of 1296 (the correct year is 1306). Some time before 1319, the governance of the village changed from an appointed administrator to a town council. In 1322, the head of the village Council, called Lemko, was mentioned. The letter of the bishop of Warmia claims that in 1323,

Lithuanians Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Uni ...

attacked the

duchy of Dobrzyń A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World ...

and "Captured the town of Dobrzyń, destroying it by fire to its foundations; in it they killed two thousand people, while in the land itself of Dobrzyń — six thousand people of both sexes, also seven priests and forty other clerics whom... oh sorrow! they led away to perpetual slavery. Also they slew two monks of the order of St. Benedict, and burned ten

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

es, not counting

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

s..." The date of the attack is presumed to be on September 14, 1323. Chronicler

Peter of Dusburg Peter of Dusburg (german: Peter von Dusburg; la, Petrus de Dusburg; died after 1326), also known as Peter of Duisburg, was a Priest-Brother and chronicler of the Teutonic Knights. He is known for writing the ''Chronicon terrae Prussiae'', which des ...

gives a figure up to 2000 people died in the sack. It took a long time for the town to recover from the attack, although the town retained its municipal rights. it was no longer a duchy. During the raid of the Teutonic Order, the stronghold in Dobrzyń was attacked again in March 1329, when the towns mayor was killed by a catapult stone. In March 1329, after the siege, the Teutonic Knights occupied the castle in Dobrzyń. After the peace of Kalisz between Kazimier the Great and the Teutonic Knights, Dobrzyń returned to Poland. From the end of the 13th and at the beginning of the 14th century (1288-1327 and 1343-1352) The town was the seat of the dukes of Dobrzyń. From 1380 the town was a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

Władysław Opolczyk Vladislaus II of Opole ( pl, Władysław Opolczyk, german: Wladislaus von Oppeln, hu, Oppelni László, uk, Владислав Опольчик; ca. 1332 – 18 May 1401), nicknamed Naderspan, was Duke of Opole from 1356, Count palatine of Hu ...

, who in 1392 gave in pledge to the Teutonic Knights. Thanks to the purchase of the pledge in 1404, the town returned to the kingdom of

. The Castle was besieged and burnt by the Teutonic Knights on August 18, 1409. The Dukes of Dobrzyń ruled the town again from 1379 to 1391. Władysław Jagiełło gave the rights to Dobrzyń to pledge to the Teutonic Knights, causing a legal conflict between Poland and the Teutonic Order which only ended on June 10, 1405, when Dobrzyń was bought by Poland. But Dobrzyń was on August 20, 1409, captured by the Teutonic Knights again this time using artillery. The town was burned. Dobrzyń was returned to Poland at the First Peace of Toruń in 1411. The town became the seat of a judicial court at this time. Dobrzyń was a royal town of the Polish Crown administratively located in the

Inowrocław Voivodeship Inowrocław Voivodeship ( pl, województwo inowrocławskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the First Partition of Poland in 1772. Together with the neighbouring Brześć Kujawski Voiv ...

in the

Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown , subdivision = Province , nation = Poland , year_start = , event_end = Third Partition of Poland , year_end = , image_map = Prowincje I RP.svg , image_map_capt ...

. Around 1388, a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

was founded in the city. In 1390, Władysław Opolczyk gave them some ground, and in 1395 Wojciech from Chełmica Mała of the Nałęcz family with his family gave monks 60 monies for the construction of a monastery church. The semi legendary

Nawojka Nawojka (pronounced: ; 14th-century – 15th-century) was a medieval Poland, Polish woman known to have dressed as a boy in order to study at the Jagiellonian University, University of Kraków in the 15th century. She later became a nun. She ...

is said to have been born here in the early 1400s, the daughter of the mayor. The first historically recorded sejmik (local parliament) of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

Dobrzyń Land Dobrzyń Land ( pl, ziemia dobrzyńska) is a historical region in central-northern Poland. It lies northeast of the Vistula River, south of the Drwęca, and west of the Skrwa. The territory approximately corresponds with the present-day powiats ...

was held in Dobrzyń in 1434.

Modern Era

The town flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries thanks to

grain trade The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...

with the major Polish city of

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

. Polish Kings granted the town various privileges in 1580 and 1587. Dobrzyń suffered during the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Deluge, when it was looted and burned. A Jewish community was established in the town in about 1765, and Jews at one time made up one-third of the total population, but most left for Britain and the United States in the years around 1900, with none remaining today. In 1793, Dobrzyń was annexed by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

in the Second Partition of Poland. In 1807, it was incorporated into the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw, and in 1815 it became part of

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

, later forcibly integrated into the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. In 1864, the town faced repressions from the Russian authorities after the unsuccessful Polish

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

. The Franciscan monastery was closed and the Franciscans were deported. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, from 1915 to 1918, the town was occupied by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1918 Poland regained independence, and the town became automatically part of the reborn state. During the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...

, in July 1920, a Jewish pro-Polish committee of the Council for State Protection (''Rada Ochrony Państwa'') was established, whose members were local wealthy Jews and rabbis, and also a Polish recruitment office was established. The town was captured by the Soviets on 14 August 1920, and occupied for several days. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, from 1939 to 1945, the town was under

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, and the Germans changed its name to ''Dobrin an der Weichsel''.

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

and

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

were subjected to arrests, expulsions and murder. As part of the '' Intelligenzaktion'', the Germans arrested and murdered Polish teachers, also in the Mauthausen concentration camp. Jews were expelled. Currently, it is a local commercial and service center with few industrial plants (

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves th ...

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

, slaughterhouse, mill).

Famous people

Adam Adamandy Kochański Adam Adamandy Kochański (5 August 1631 – 17 May 1700) was a Polish mathematician, physicist, clock-maker, pedagogue and librarian. He was the Court Mathematician of John III Sobieski. Kochański was born in Dobrzyń nad Wisłą. He began his ...

, 17th-century mathematician * Marian Kowalski, 19th-century astronomer *

, semi-legendary girl of the 15th century * Samuel Vigoda (1895–1990), Polish-US Jewish cantor

References

External links

Official website of Dobrzyń nad Wisłą

Jewish community of Dobrzyń nad Wisłą
on Virtual Shtetl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobrzyn Nad Wisla Cities and towns in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Lipno County Populated places on the Vistula Płock Governorate Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) Pomeranian Voivodeship (1919–1939)